Fearful of Win10? There’s an answer

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[Caribconsult]

Many of us who continue to use Win7 do so because we’re familiar with the interface, it’s pretty well bug free, and it runs nicely on the appropriate hardware and many don’t particularly care for the cartoon-like GUI of Win10.  I’m one of these; I’m a firm believer in not upgrading yourself into oblivion, but something recently happened that changed my mind completely.

We had bought my wife an ACER laptop a few years ago, nicely equipped, Intel5 CPU, 6Gb RAM, and 500Gb drive, etc, and Win10…no choice, it didn’t come with anything else.  It ran like a slug from the beginning. It was so slow even my wife, who is no tech wiz, found it difficult to use because the response was so slow.  I tried ‘downgrading’ it to Win7 but the hardware didn’t like that(!!!). So I found, somewhere on Microsoft’s site a FREE ISO file to burn your own Win10 Home installation, completely legal and a totally clean installation, not loaded down with lots of junk like the pre-installed windows than often comes with commercial units. It runs like it should, smooth and responsive. Replacing the old SATA drive with a Kingston SSD 400Gb drive also helped. My suggestion to owners of recent laptops is change to a SSD, it really makes a difference, for only about $55 or so, and if you feel gutsy, go search MS and use the free MS Win10 to overwrite or totally trash the factory install and you’ll appreciate the boost in performance.  Plus the interface more resembles classic windows and is easier to use. The install is fairly automated..it’s not scary like NT was.   Between these two, my mind about moving to Windows10 has totally changed. I know the end is near for Win7, upgrades are difficult if not impossible to find, and if my current nicely running Win7 ever takes a serious dump, Win10 is the answer. I’m far less resistant to that idea now.

 

Win7Pro, I5 CPU, 8Gb RAM, SSD boot drive, external 4Tb SSD storage

• This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Caribconsult.
• This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Caribconsult.

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Microsoft have always had a downloadable version of W10 via the Media Creation Tool.

Why your laptop was slow we can only guess at, but you are right about adding an SSD.

cheers, Paul

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Caribconsult wrote:

6Gb RAM

More RAM will help, too. No matter what Microsoft says, 6GB is a bit skimpy in my book.

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I agree with both of you guys. 6Gb is a bit skimpy, 8 is much better, but that’s what this ACER came with and it was in our budget. I didn’t know Microsoft was giving away free Win10 installs, but the one they are giving, the one I got is orders of magnitude better than what came on the ACER. The original was so slow you sometimes would wonder if it had crashed or was in the middle of something…there’s no drive activity light so you could only guess. The new free 10 install runs WAY better, it’s actually usable even with the 6Gb, it boots up way faster. I’m sure some of this is attributable to the SSD I installed but I think the new install of the O/S is a much cleaner one than what ACER put in, loaded down with junkware.  I’m even considering such an install for myself since Win7’s days are numbered. Yes, I spent a few hours on this but I learned a lot.  Thanks for your input.

Win7Pro, I5 CPU, 8Gb RAM, SSD boot drive, external 4Tb SSD storage

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The fast boot is down to the SSD. They are just so much better as a boot drive than HDDs.

Now you need to back it up.  🙂

cheers, Paul

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I am another Win 7 hardcore user like @Caribconsult. And like him, I just replaced an HP laptop running Win 7 with a Dell xps running Win 10 Pro. The only reason I did not do a total reformat to Win 7 was because my son, who is a PC guru, said I needed to start to move to Win 10. I started my PC journey with DOS back in 1987, so I have been through a number of upgrades over the years. This is just one more change.

I have moved my programs from the HP to the Dell and without too many changes.  i have  cleaned out the bloatware and unwanted and unneeded preinstalled Win 10 programs and I am getting comfortable with the Win 10 interface.

My major problem now is that I am unable to get the Win 10 and the towers to be part of the same network. My main PC is a home built tower and I have another Win 7 tower. I have tried setting up a new network with the Dell as the primary PC with the two Win 7s joining it.  And I have tried getting the Dell to join my existing network. In both configurations, the network map shows the towers as connected and the Dell there but not connected.

Because I cannot connect the Dell, I have to do the old Sneaker Net to keep Outlook and other programs synced. I do not use the cloud for storage and I do not want to used GMail to sync my email, contacts and calendar.

I am not ready yet to convert my towers to Win 10 because I have quite a few programs that I do not want to lose in a conversion. I am at a real loss at this point. Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

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We need more information about how the machines are connected.
What do you mean “the Dell is not connected”?
How do you sync your programs over the network?

cheers, Paul

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First two things to check:
– Same network name on all computers
– On Dell, is Advanced Sharing Settings set for Private? Default may be Public, which inhibits.

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Both Pauls – Thank you for your swift response.

The Dell is not connected to my local network. All of my PCs are connected to the internet. The towers are hardwired – cables  –  and the Dell will, hopefully, be connected as a wireless machine.

However I originally set the HP up via a connection to the network switch by way of an RJ45 cable. The Dell does not have a RJ45 port, but I have a USB-C to RJ45 converter. The Dell can access the internet either way and shows up on then network map as connected to the switch, but not the network.

I sync the programs with Free File Sync (Donation) and I use Code Two to sync Outlook 2016’s Contacts, Calendar and selected email folders.

I do not remember if the Dell’s default access is private or public, but I set it as private. I have the same network name for all the machines. I deleted the network, set it up new and made sure that the network name is the same on all of the machines.

Where can I go next?

 

 

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First, I apologize for using an incorrect word. Here is the corrected first item in 2377292 above:
– Same workgroup name on all computers
And more on the Private Sharing: are the options’ details on the Dell set the same as on the towers, and on the HP?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Referring to your network map:
0 – Red and Green are both Win 7, and happy; and Dell is Win 10, unhappy.
1 – Are there really 3 switches (why?), or is this just the Map’s way of indicating 3 ethernet cables running to 1 switch? Do any devices connect directly into the router, not into the switch?
2 – The router is Broadcom? There is scant information on a Search for BRCM Router. What is the make, model, and age, of the router? Single band – 2.4, or dual band – 2.4, 5.0?
3 – Is the HP (Win 7) still available? Where did it connect to your network, where the Dell is now?
4 –

The Dell is not connected to my local network.
. . .
The Dell can access the internet either way and shows up on then network map as connected to the switch, but not the network.

What is your understanding of what your ‘local network’ is?
5 – Besides the printer (wireless?), what other devices exist? And they are Wireless?
6 – Has the router been rebooted since the Dell was connected?

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